Subway calls ‘emergency’ meeting with franchisees as sales plummet

Eeehhhhh I wouldn’t say that’s as much as a double standard but more of a “this is what we do, but we won’t tell you how to run your business” type of thing.
Well, you live in a small enough town you’ll realize how many contractors work from hotels/motels. My cousins have the biggest at home and get a small fraction of the jobs …
They also rent/lease equipment and don’t want it idle …
 
I used to eat there once in a while back when they had $5 foot-longs.

Nowadays I prefer Firehouse Subs or Jersey Mike's, but even that is infrequent for me.
We finally got a Firehouse locally, and it was fantastic for quite a while. Then they had some major staffing changes and I'm sorry, but for the price Firehouse commands for a sub, getting something soggy and gross just isn't acceptable. Haven't been since.

My go-to if I'm eating out now for something like this is Pita Pit. So far, touch wood, haven't had a single bad thing from them.
 
We finally got a Firehouse locally, and it was fantastic for quite a while. Then they had some major staffing changes and I'm sorry, but for the price Firehouse commands for a sub, getting something soggy and gross just isn't acceptable. Haven't been since.

My go-to if I'm eating out now for something like this is Pita Pit. So far, touch wood, haven't had a single bad thing from them.

I've never been impressed by Firehouse, it's completely off my radar, mediocre sandwich at best.
 
Maybe some of the franchise owners should think about treating customers a little better. There's a Subway near me whose owner bitches when someone comes in with a coupon, and makes it a hassle each time we try and use it. He ultimately takes it but the fun of arguing with him wore off so I took my business elsewhere. A few of my friends did the same thing. Treating customers right goes a long way, especially with people who dine out, which is a non-essential business.
 
Maybe some of the franchise owners should think about treating customers a little better. There's a Subway near me whose owner bitches when someone comes in with a coupon, and makes it a hassle each time we try and use it. He ultimately takes it but the fun of arguing with him wore off so I took my business elsewhere. A few of my friends did the same thing. Treating customers right goes a long way, especially with people who dine out, which is a non-essential business.
I always felt franchises allowed people who really shouldn't be in business to be so.

They need to send them to business school. If your there with a coupon, you likely wouldn't be there at all without it. So its an incremental sale. As long as it cost above your variable cost its a profit. Owners look at a coupon as taking some amount of money away from them. They fail to understand that 10% of something is better than 50% of nothing.
 
I always felt franchises allowed people who really shouldn't be in business to be so.

They need to send them to business school. If your there with a coupon, you likely wouldn't be there at all without it. So its an incremental sale. As long as it cost above your variable cost its a profit. Owners look at a coupon as taking some amount of money away from them. They fail to understand that 10% of something is better than 50% of nothing.
Exactly! But I guess if you have the money to buy the franchise you're in! This clown is going to learn the hard way by losing customers. I have a group of friends at the local pool which is very close to the Subway I mentioned. We all got the same BS push back from the owner when presenting the coupons, and all of us stopped going there now. Probably ten of us in total, and I'm sure there are a lot more people from the neighborhood are doing the same. Maybe they should address things like this at their so called meeting.
 
We finally got a Firehouse locally, and it was fantastic for quite a while. Then they had some major staffing changes and I'm sorry, but for the price Firehouse commands for a sub, getting something soggy and gross just isn't acceptable. Haven't been since.

My go-to if I'm eating out now for something like this is Pita Pit. So far, touch wood, haven't had a single bad thing from them.
Cold meat and toasted bread my friend. Only way I'll eat Firehouse. I too, do not care for a soggy bottom sandwich.
 
Around here, in small town WI, Subway is often the only fast food restaurant (maybe restaurant of any type) in a town, frequently connected to a gas station. While one might think that being the only game in town they're set up to do good business, in reality it seems to mean that there really isn't enough business where they are located to be able to PROPERLY run a restaurant of any type. So you often get a bad experience. Underpaid staff who don't care. Understaffed period. Not enough turnover to keep product fresh. The store barely makes money so they don't spend an extra penny where they can help it. These are the kind of stores where you are likely to show up at lunch time on any random day and find a hand-scrawled note taped to the door by some manager (who isn't qualified to manage anything) saying "Sorry we're closed, no one wants to work anymore." Which might be true, but a manager and franchisee of a location needs to do whatever it takes to not let that affect the restaurant's operations, even if that means working 15 hours a day themselves until they figure something out. Other times they might be open but you could literally be waiting a half hour for your food if there are a few people ahead of you. One thing about Subway, the way they work one person can take your order, make your food, and be the cashier. And because that CAN happen it often WILL happen. Even during busy times, there might be a single employee who doesn't really care and doesn't know how to be efficient. At least at something like McDonald's, at a minimum there typically needs to be someone at the counter and someone in back making food.

I think Subway also attracts a type of franchisee who really doesn't care that much as long as they make some money and will oversaturate their market with multiple substandard stores vs one really well-run one if they think that will be more profitable. And Subway itself apparently doesn't have a problem with that. In one small city I used to live, there were 3 Subways within a couple miles (and a fourth another couple miles across the river in a different city, but same population center). All operated by the same franchisee. Was back there this weekend and noticed that only one of the 3 is still open.

Fast food franchises in general have long been set up with such onerous buy-in and liquidity requirements that for an individual to own one you really have to have made your money somewhere else. Often this has been some sort of middle-aged business owner (contractor, car dealer, store owner, real estate investor, etc.) who needs someplace to park their money. The pitch to the franchisee isn't "start a business you're passionate about and make your neighbors happy by serving them great food" it's "buy in and with our name you're almost guaranteed to get XX% ROI." So franchise owners often don't really care.

Chick-fil-a is a notable example of a different approach. As mentioned, their franchises have remarkably low requirements for a business that, at least to this point, is almost a guarantee to be successful. But they also expect you to run that restaurant like it's your own baby and protect the CFA brand. You aren't allowed to have other non-passive businesses and are expected to be at the restaurant actively managing on a day-to-day basis. You do need to show that you have the business skill and do need to come up with $10k on your own (not borrowed). But other than that, they are more looking for people who are passionate about running a restaurant, and a Chick-fil-a restaurant in particular, than an experienced hard-nosed businessman who is great at squeezing every possible dime out of a business. That has worked unbelievably well for them, though I do have concerns that with expansion, standards will start to slip.
 
I’m sorry to hear they might be closing. Honestly, I rarely eat out anymore for the same reasons. With rising food costs and insurance premiums, I have to be much more selective about where I spend my money. 🤷‍♂️
 
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I’m sorry to hear they might be closing. Honestly, I rarely eat out anymore for the same reasons. With rising food costs and insurance premiums, I have to be much more selective about where I spend my money. 🤷‍♂️

Home made meals are better and less expensive.
 
Speaking of burgers, our local SmashBurger closed down a while back. I liked their burgers, and reasonable pricing.

Thankfully, we have quite a few local (not franchised) places here that serve up a good burger, as long as you don't mind spending $14-$15 for it. Once in a while, I don't mind.

When I travel out of town I always stop at mom & pop places and don’t mind paying good money for a good meal.
 
A number of Subway stores in my area won't accept the corporate coupons. They have signs that say so at the store entrances.
I always assumed they were reimbursed by corporate for taking the coupons. I guess I was wrong. Fortunately, I've never had a problem using them, but If I'm in a location I've never been before I show them the coupon and ask if they take it.
 
I always assumed they were reimbursed by corporate for taking the coupons. I guess I was wrong. Fortunately, I've never had a problem using them, but If I'm in a location I've never been before I show them the coupon and ask if they take it.

When I worked at bakers square, the coupons were more like rebates. The managers would have to save them and turn them to corporate every month for the price difference. Probably not worth the hassle for a small subway franchise.
 
Speaking of burgers, our local SmashBurger closed down a while back. I liked their burgers, and reasonable pricing.

Thankfully, we have quite a few local (not franchised) places here that serve up a good burger, as long as you don't mind spending $14-$15 for it. Once in a while, I don't mind.
Last time I had Smashburger (and it was very tasty) the total for my daughter and I - 42$
 
Smashburger is good, but pricing on par with Five Guys. I think they don't have the franks red hot fries anymore either.

MooYah is another good borderline fast food burger.
 
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